CLSA in Times of San Diego: San Diego Biotech Groups Criticize Issa on Innovation Act

Two influential biotech-industry trade groups said Monday they are disappointed with recent remarks by Rep. Darrell Issa criticizing the industry’s role in the debate on patent reform.

In remarks to Politico, Issa accused the biotech industry of spreading misinformation about the Innovation Act, which Issa co-sponsors. He argued that if amendments proposed by the industry are accepted, there would be expensive, patented medicines “that are, in fact, not new and innovative.”

“These remarks seem to suggest a lack of understanding of the extraordinary value and complexity of life sciences innovation, as well as the fundamental importance that companies, and their investors, place on patents and the ability to protect and enforce them,” said Sara Radcliffe, president and CEO of the California Life Sciences Association, andJoe Panetta, president and CEO of Biocom.

The two organizations delivered a letter late last week expressing their concerns.

“Patent litigation legislation must appropriately and carefully balance the need to correct abusive ‘patent troll’ practices with the reliance of a full spectrum of industries and sectors on a well-functioning U.S. patent system and the enforcement mechanisms it provides. In its current form, H.R. 9 falls far short of that goal,” Radcliffe and Panetta said.

The two nonprofits, both with offices in San Diego, represent more than 1,000 life sciences companies and organizations, many located in Issa’s district in north San Diego and south Orange counties.